Oklahoma governor signs Texas-style ban on most abortions

Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed a Texas-style abortion ban that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press

3 May 2022, 23:03

• 4 min read

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a Texas-style abortion ban on Tuesday that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Court docket will uphold new restrictions.

“I want Oklahoma to be essentially the most pro-life state in the nation," Stitt tweeted after signing the bill.

Stitt's signing of the bill comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's high court that it is considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade determination that legalized abortion almost 50 years in the past.

The invoice Stitt signed takes impact immediately together with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to temporarily halt the invoice. Abortion suppliers say now that the brand new regulation is in effect, they may immediately cease providing providers for women after six weeks of pregnancy.

“Whereas the regulation is in impact, which it now's because the governor signed it, abortion companies after six weeks will probably be largely unavailable," stated Rabia Muqaddam, a staff attorney for the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion suppliers within the case. “It’s a short-term loss, however we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Court docket will nonetheless grant us reduction."

The new legislation prohibits abortions as soon as cardiac exercise may be detected in an embryo, which consultants say is roughly six weeks into a pregnancy, before many ladies know they are pregnant. An identical bill authorised in Texas final yr led to a dramatic discount in the number of abortions performed in that state, with many women going to Oklahoma and different surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said Texas' legislation that took impact in September has given their staff an concept of what a post-Roe nation would possibly seem like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I have repeatedly treated sufferers who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden mentioned. “They’re taking day off of labor, taking outing of faculty and taking time away from their family tasks to get the care that until September 2021 they have been in a position to get safely and readily in their communities."

The bill authorizes abortions if performed as the results of a medical emergency, but there are no exceptions if the being pregnant is the results of rape or incest.

Like the Texas law, the Oklahoma bill would enable private citizens to sue abortion suppliers or anyone who helps a lady receive an abortion for as much as $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court docket allowed that mechanism to stay in place, different Republican-led states sought to copy Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the primary copycat measure in March, though it has been temporarily blocked by the state’s Supreme Court.

Stitt earlier this 12 months signed a invoice to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, however that measure shouldn't be set to take impact till this summer time, and authorized specialists say it's more likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade resolution nonetheless stays the law of the land.

The number of abortions performed each year in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past 20 years, from greater than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, in keeping with knowledge from the Oklahoma State Department of Well being. In 2020, before the Texas law was passed, about 9% of the abortions performed in Oklahoma had been ladies from Texas.

Before the Texas ban took impact on Sept. 1, about 40 ladies from Texas had abortions carried out in Oklahoma each month, the info shows. That quantity jumped to 222 Texas girls in September and 243 in October.